Visit

Transcription

1 2017 Governance Social Media Index Report June 2017 Visit

2 CONTENTS PAGES Introduction...2 Summary of the Post-Election GSMI...3 Political Party Leaders (Candidates)...3 Political Parties on Social Media....6 Key Election Management Bodies...9 Conclusion...10 Appendix P a g e

3 INTRODUCTION Ghana, as part of the global economy, cannot be left out in the use of social media as the country has been among the very earliest countries in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa to have access to internet services. In recent times, the use of social media in Ghana is gearing towards discussion of social, economic and especially political issues. The evidence of this upsurge in the use of social media can be seen from online activities that surrounded the 2016 General Elections. It offered ample proof of social media s popularity and effectiveness as a communication and social engagement tool. Indeed, available data by Stat Counter (2017) indicates that as of May this year, Facebook users in Ghana account for about percent of the market share, whereas Twitter (2.29%), Pinterest (1.27%), LinkedIn (0.23%), YouTube (0.27%), and Google+ (0.18%) respectively. Although Ghana s democratic credentials earned a massive boost after the successful conduct of the elections to choose a new President and 275 members of parliament, the success of the political season was however not limited to the peaceful manner in which Ghanaians conducted themselves before, during and after the fierce contest. The rather impressive use of new digital tools including social media also attracted widespread commendation. From the culminating indicators seen in the deployment of tech-based systems by media houses that enabled their collation and projections of results, through the Electoral Commission s own challenges with same, to how political parties tracked their numbers before the final official declaration among others, the digital warfare lines had long been drawn with key communications and campaigning strategies by parties and their candidates pivoted on various social media tools especially Facebook and Twitter. Social media platforms existed long before last year's Parliamentary and Presidential election. Networks such as Facebook and Twitter, however, gained greater prominence during the straight fight of Mahama versus Nana Addo. 2 P a g e

4 In June 2016, Penplusbytes issued the first Governance Social Media Index (GSMI) as a baseline on the presence of political parties, their candidates and elections management bodies on Twitter and Facebook. The second GSMI released in September 2016, measured how political parties and their leaders used social media tools in their communications strategies to engage citizens. The third Index published in December 2016 provided an assessment on which political parties and candidates commanded the best presence on social media. This index also assessed the political parties level of engagement with followers in the heat of the campaign. This 3rd GSMI revealed a two horse race between President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and his main rival Nana Akufo Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) where the latter displaced the former President as the most followed candidate on Facebook. However, there were no significant change as President Mahama s Twitter account continued to have the most followers. Click to read more on 3 rd GSMI Report. SUMMARY OF THE POST-ELECTION GSMI Six months after the 2016 elections, the 1 st GSMI Report in 2017 ascertains post-election use of social media by political parties with emphasis on the presence and performance of new President, Nana Akufo Addo and his last opponent, John Dramani Mahama. This report also focuses on some key governance institutions with direct stakes in electoral issues in Ghana. This post-election survey revealed that as of 17 th June, 2017, President, Nana Akufo-Addo maintains his status as the most followed personality on Facebook with an overwhelming 1,566,068 followers and 1,565,042 likes. On Twitter, former President, John Dramani Mahama leads with 471,000 followers. The President, post-elections, uses his account to announce new policies, interact with citizens and share his good will messages when needed. His opponent, John Mahama, has largely used his account as a tool for rallying of his party supporters and also to share his good will messages. Also, a look at the political parties indicated that the New Patriotic Party is the most followed party on Facebook, whereas that of Twitter is the National Democratic Congress. The details are discussed as follows: 3 P a g e

5 POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS (2016 Presidential Candidates) ON SOCIAL MEDIA RANKING OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ACCORDING TO THEIR FOLLOWING ON FACEBOOK Table 1: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Sep-16 Jun-17 GAIN % CHANGE VERIFICATION STATUS LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT Pres. Nana Akufo Addo 981,057 1,566, ,011 60% Verified High John Dramani Mahama 1,007,595 1,138, ,091 13% Verified High Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom 270, ,426 33,919 13% Not Verified Low Ivor Greenstreet 30, (29,604) -99% Not Verified Low Nana Konadu A. Rawlings 29,106 34,646 5,540 19% Not Verified Low Dr. Edward Mahama 6,779 4,111 (2,668) -39% Not Verified Low Figure 1: Number of followers on Facebook Number of followers on facebook % % % -50% -100% 0 Pres. Nana Akufo Addo John Dramani Mahama Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom Ivor Greenstreet Nana Konadu A. Rawlings Dr. Edward Mahama -150% SEPT JUNE, 2017 % CHANGE The table 1 with its corresponding figure 1 above depicts the Presidential Candidates with Facebook accounts. The data analysis indicates that the current President of Ghana, Nana Akufo- Addo of the New Patriotic Party has 1,566,068 followers on Facebook. With this figure, he leads 4 P a g e

6 the rest of the political leaders as the most followed personality on Facebook. He s followed at 2 nd place by the Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress and the former President, John Dramani Mahama with 1,138,686 followers on Facebook. At 3 rd place is Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum (Presidential Candidate of Progressive Peoples Party) who has 304,426 followers on Facebook. Nana Konadu A. Rawlings (NDP), Dr. Edward Mahama (PNC) and Ivor Greenstreet (CPP) have 34,646, 4,111 and 444 respectively and in that order. In addition, the variance analysis between the Pre-Election survey September 2016; a period marking the peak of pre-elections political activities and the Post-Election survey ( June, 2017) depicts that President Nana Akufo-Addo recorded the most gain of about 585,011 representing 60% increase in the number of Facebook followers. This is followed by Nana Konadu A. Rawlings gaining 5,540, representing 19% increase in the number of followers. John Dramani Mahama and Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum gained 131,091 and 33,919 representing 13% increase in the follower base respectively. However, Dr. Edward Mahama and Ivor Greenstreet had a decrease in their number of followers. RANKING OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ACCORDING TO THEIR FOLLOWING ON TWITTER Table 2: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SEPT JUNE, 2017 GAIN % CHANGE VERIFICATION STATUS LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT Pres. Nana Akufo Addo 108, , , % Verified High John Dramani Mahama 269, , ,736 75% Verified High Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom 51, (51,316) -99% Not Verified Low Ivor Greenstreet 609 1, % Not Verified Low Nana Konadu A. Rawlings 493 1, % Not Verified Low Dr. Edward Mahama 328 1, % Not Verified Low 5 P a g e

7 Figure 2: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER Number of followers on twitter Pres. Nana Akufo Addo John Dramani Mahama Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom Ivor Greenstreet Nana Konadu A. Rawlings Dr. Edward Mahama 300% 250% 200% 150% 100% 50% 0% -50% -100% -150% SEPT Jun-17 % CHANGE Table 2 with its corresponding figure 2, offer details on presence and performance of personalities on Twitter. John Dramani Mahama maintains his status as the most followed with 471,000 followers on Twitter. President Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP comes in at 2 nd with 246,000 followers on Twitter. At distant 3 rd place is Nana Konadu A. Rawlings (NDP) who has 1,269 followers, with Dr. Edward Mahama (PNC) at 4 th place with 1,146 followers. The rest are Ivor Greenstreet (CPP) with 1,018 followers and Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum (Presidential Candidate of Progressive Peoples Party) with 376 followers on Twitter. The variance analysis as seen in Table 2 indicates that Dr. Edward Mahama has the highest percentage gain with about 818 followers within the period. The figure represents a 249% increase. Within the same period, Nana Konadu A. Agyemang Rawlings gained 776 followers representing a 157% gain. President Nana Akufo-Addo had the third largest gain with 137,614 representing 127% increase, followed by John Dramani Mahama and Ivor Greenstreet 201,736 and 409 representing 75% and 65% increase respectively. Surprisingly, however, there was a sharp decline in the number of followers of Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum on Twitter. 6 P a g e

8 POLITICAL PARTIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA Table 3: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK POLITICAL PARTIES SEPT JUNE, 2017 GAIN % CHANGE VERIFICATION STATUS LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT NPP 307, , ,479 49% Verified High NDC 24,743 25, % Verified High PPP 33, ,637 87, % Not Verified Low CPP 6,662 6, % Not Verified Low NDP 8,977 8,964 (13) 0% Not Verified Low IPP % Not Verified Low APC % Not Verified Low URP % Not Verified Low GCPP 1,194 1,186 (8) -1% Not Verified Low 7 P a g e

9 Figure 3: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK POLITICAL PARTY FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK NPP NDC PPP CPP NDP IPP APC URP GCPP Sep-16 Jun-17 % CHANGE 1400% 1200% 1000% 800% 600% 400% 200% 0% -200% Table 3 with its corresponding figure 3 show political parties and their number of followers on Facebook. Clearly, the analysis suggests that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the most followed party on Facebook in this Post-election survey. They have obtained 457,442 followers representing 49% increase in the number of followers from the Pre-Election survey in September, The Progressive People s Party is second as the next most followed party on Facebook with 120,637 followers representing 263% increase. This percentage shows from the analysis that, PPP is the second highest gainer after APC. Also, the National Democratic Congress has 25,313 followers representing a paltry 2% increase. Surprisingly, APC which was disqualified prior to the election obtained 243 followers representing 1179%, becoming the highest gainer among the parties. Again, GCPP is the only party that had a decline in their follower base as indicated above. 8 P a g e

10 Table 4: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER POLITICAL PARTIES SEPT JUNE, 2017 GAIN % CHANGE VERIFICATION STATUS LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT NPP 35,193 26,800 (8,393) -24% Verified High NDC 12,577 27,500 14, % Verified High PPP (246) -49% Not Verified Low CPP N/A 547 N/A N/A Not Verified Low Figure 4: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER POLITICAL PARTY FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER NPP NDC PPP Sep-16 Jun-17 Table 4 with its corresponding figure 4 also indicates political parties and their number of followers on Twitter. Data obtained above indicates that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is the most followed party on Twitter in this Post-election survey. The party has 27,500 followers representing 119% increase in the number of followers from the Pre-Election survey in September, This makes the NDC the highest gainer among the group of parties under consideration. The closest contender, New Patriotic Party, and the Progressive Peoples Party suffered declines in the number of followers. The other parties including APC, CPP, GCPP among others do not have Twitter accounts. 9 P a g e

11 KEY ELECTIONS MANAGEMENT BODIES The Electoral Commission, among other key elections management bodies received the highest number of followers on Facebook whereas CODEO had the highest number of followers on Twitter. Table 5 below has details. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE BY IMPORTANT ELECTION MANAGEMENT BODIES Table 5: NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS POST-ELECTION FOLLOWERS (As at 17th Jun, 2017) ELECTION MANAGEMENT BODY TWITTER FACEBOOK Ghana Police Service CODEO Electoral Commission (EC) NCCE Parliament NPC Judicial Council The table above depicts the post-election results (as at 17 th June, 2017) of the usage of social media by some important election management bodies. Ghana Police Service is the main law enforcement agency of Ghana. The service has 6896 Twitter followers with 72,231 Facebook likes. The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO); an independent and non-partisan network of civil society group, faith-based organizations and professional bodies, which observe Ghana elections, has both Facebook and Twitter accounts with 14,405 and 2,958 followers respectively. In addition, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana which is the official body in Ghana responsible for the conduct of all public elections has both Twitter and Facebook accounts with 1,848 and 212,826 followers respectively. Again, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) responsible for the education of Ghanaians on civic matters also has both Twitter and Facebook accounts with the followers being 396 for Twitter and 123 for Facebook. Surprisingly, the Judicial Council of Ghana (JC) and the National Peace Council (NPC) have no presence on Twitter and Facebook. 10 P a g e

12 Overall, a vivid look at the data shows that among all the election management bodies under review, the EC has the most number of likes on Facebook followed by the Ghana Police Service, and CODEO. Again, with regards to Twitter accounts, the Ghana Police Service has the most number of followers, with CODEO and the EC respectively. CONCLUSION This survey looked at the Post-Election Twitter and Facebook Accounts of Political Parties and their Presidential Candidates as well as some important election management bodies in Ghana. The period under consideration is 17 th June, Findings from the survey indicate that the most followed personality among all the political leaders in Ghana on Facebook is the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo whereas the Twitter account of former President, John Dramani Mahama is the most followed. Also, a look at the political parties indicated that the New Patriotic Party is the most followed party on Facebook, whereas that of Twitter is the National Democratic Congress. Again, the analysis on the election management bodies indicated that the Electoral Commission is the most followed entity on Facebook, whereas, the Ghana Police Service is the most followed entity on Twitter. 11 P a g e

13 APPENDIX: A screenshot of the banner handle of the Presidential Candidates showing the number of followers on Twitter Appendix 1: Nana Akufo-Addo Appendix 2: John Dramani Mahama 12 P a g e

14 Appendix 3: Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom Appendix 4: Dr. Edward Mahama 13 P a g e

15 Appendix 5: Nana KonaduAgyemang Rawlings Appendix 6: Ivor Greenstreet 14 P a g e

16 15 P a g e